I am an IBS sufferer and I'd like to open this forum for anyone who would like to share helpful information about the condition, tell their story or even if you are having a bad day and want to rant about it.I've been suffering with predominantly IBS-C for the last few years and it can be hell. Stress seems to kill me and my other vices are fatty foods, big meals, red meats, lots of dairy, red wine oh and weetabix! Things that help me are:bottles of water everydayavoiding the foods listed abovelots of exercisefennel teaactimeland keeping stress free

As a woman, IBS makes me feel like I am 2 stone heavier than I am - it can be a viscious cirlce really. I get depressed and then eat badly!!

Anyways, lets get chatting if you are suffering from a similar issue. And remember - IBS is a REAL condition, no matter what people tell you. You are not alone!!

My husband suffers from IBS and he gets really bloated. He finds activia helps but also some stuff he got from the natural health shop. I will check whats it's called when I go home and post it. He took it regualrly to start and now just takes it as and when needed.He syas he gets really uncomfortable and often has trouble with certain jeans not be able to fit when he is bloated. He stomach can go up at least one trouser size when he is suffering

Hubby just rang and said that stuff is called linoforce. However there are various things they can offer dependent on your own specific symptoms so it's best to discuss it with them. These things are not cheap but worth it if they help and usually last a while.

I have suffered from IBS all my life, although it was only the occasional bout of mystery stomach problems until I reached my twenties, when it really became a problem, and I sought a diagnosis (although I was misdiagnosed with an acute urinary infection at first!). It is much better now - virtually gone again - and while some of that is down to my knowing how to manage it, it's apparently typical for it to be worst in your twenties, and get better after then, so that might cheer you up a bit, Candy.

Stress is the main trigger for me, always has been, and pain is the main symptom. I can get agonising pain start within 10 minutes of getting very stressed, although some bouts have no obvious cause. I remember phoning an emergency doctor in the middle of the night once to ask if there was anything I could do about the pain, and he told me, "No, only an injection from a doctor. No oral painkillers will touch it, it's considered as painful as childbirth". That sounds like an exaggeration but it certainly isn't - IBS has been without any doubt the most painful thing I've ever experienced or could even imagine.

I have never used an anti-spasmodic drug, I've always used the slow-release peppermint oil capsules from the chemist, like Colpermin. These are brilliant, they will cure even a bad attack. The only problem being they take 24 hours to work, so I have 24 hours of unspeakable agony (if I phone a doctor and ask for an injection, I'm always told it will be several hours before they get to me anyway, as I am bottom of the list because the condition is totally non life-threatening). But as they are only peppermint oil, I feel comfortable taking them preventatively if I know I will be stressed.

The other thing that seemed to help (although the timing could be coincidence) was eating live yogurt on a regular basis. I don't eat dairy yogurts, so never ate live yogurt at all, then they finally brought out a live soya yogurt. I bought this and began eating it virtually every day (because I liked it) then noticed that my IBS had got a lot better.

The other symptom I suffered from was mystery vomiting. I suffered for years from this in my twenties. It was a particular, quite unique type of vomiting and very unpleasant (I won't go into details but if anyone wants to know, PM me) and it recurred often, but I would never know when it was coming. It made my life a misery. I already knew I had IBS, but there was no obvious link - I asked the medical profession, but all they said was perhaps I was allergic to something. I knew it couldn't be, because there was no one food that triggered it, it was always different. Then, sitting up ill one night and desperately trawling the internet yet again for clues, I found a remark on a forum about how someone had something similar and it seemed to be worse if they ate more fat. That suddenly shone a light, and I realised this vomiting was caused by the IBS. It was a side-effect, occurring when the digestive transit slows down or stops (which causes constipation in some people, but vomiting in me). Anything that impaired digestive transit made it worse, and suddenly everything fell into place, and I knew how to help it (avoiding anything that slowed digestive transit, so high-fat meals, eating late, exercising after a meal, eating when stressed, etc). I actually worked this out all by myself after suffering for years - and then two weeks later someone wrote about it in a magazine, and it's now a well-known side effect of IBS

So for me, slow-release peppermint oil helps with the pain, live yogurt helps with digestive transit, but keeping stress levels down is the most important thing.

These mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb.

That makes sense, the linofirce being a laxative, as my husband gets bad consipation with his IBS. He swears the activia help but are not always enough on their own. I know they market them as things that help digestion. He can go days without going to the toilet sometimes. He had colonic irrigation too which he said helped for a while the first time. He wasn't as convinced it was any good the second time.

But it must be special slow-release peppermint to help with bowel spasms - peppermint that's just eaten normally will be digested before it reaches the large intestine, so will not help. It will settle the stomach, but nothing more. (I've tried peppermint tea but I personally can't stand it - I think it's like hot, slightly minty, grass ). You have to ask at a pharmacist's for slow-release peppermint capsules.

There are no particular trigger foods for me either, but my step-dad also has it, and finds high-fibre foods seem to affect him. So wholegrain cereal is bad, but cake is good. Bit convenient if you ask me

These mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb.

candychick16 wrote:Can anyone name a soya yoghurt with those helpful cultures in them? I am in Ireland and we have soya yoghurt, just no 'bio' ones.

Alpro Soya do one, just called "Plain" and they are the main soya manufacturer. It's available in any large supermarket over here. Health food shops also stock a brand called Sojasun, which I prefer, and the bacterial cultures in it are the more 'helpful' types, but it is more expensive and only found in independent outlets or online. You could definitely have it sent to you in the post, Candy, but it would probably be quite expensive as it's shipped in refrigerated packaging.

You know you can buy bio cultures, dairy-free, in capsule form, from health food shops? You take them as a supplement, so no yogurt needed.

These mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb.

I'd like to thank candychick for starting this IBS thread. I find most of what you said in your first post really accurate for me too. I have spent years (from my 20s to 50s!) trying to work out what it is that affects me and have suspected all the things you mention in the following rough order of importance: 1) dairy (altho' I seem to be able to tolerate small amounts of cheese, say as a topping, 2) certain 'wind-producing' vegetables such as beans and cabbage, 3) pasta, 4) too much fibre as in bran based cereals, 4) red meat such as steak which makes me feel like I've swallowed a cardigan!, 5) large meals usually when eating out (maybe more fatty than home-cooking), 6) eating too late at night. I am never really free of IBS symptoms, extreme bloating being the worst one for me. I also have chronic tenderness and discomfort in my left side.

Because there is a list of things which seem to affect me, I had begun to think that my attempt to avoid triggers was pointless. My husband said he thought I was intolerant of all food! So reading Candychick's list has really helped me realise that it is often not just one group of food types which can trigger IBS, that I may be correct in suspecting all of the above and this means I can try to control the condition to some extent. Stress certainly also plays a large part - but having IBS is stressful in itself. For me now, I think it is the food intolerance/difficulty digesting which is the important factor. I had my gall bladder removed when I was in my twenties and sometimes wonder if this is a contributing factor. Would be interested to hear what others think.

Hi everyone, after being referred to different specialists and subsequently having lots of checks - blood tests, internal/external scans etc - I was diagnosed with suffering from IBS and prescribed the antispasmodic drug Mebeverine to help relieve some of the dreadful stomach pain I suffering daily, I was also told to change my diet etc. However, I’ve always believed in natural healing and wherever possible I would try this approach before resorting to conventional drugs and purely by chance a friend had read that ALOE VERA juice had helped IBS suffers... I know, I thought it sounded totally bizarre too, but I had nothing to lose. So I started to take Aloe Vera Gel Drink building up to 120mls daily and within three weeks my symptoms had dramatically reduced and within a further three weeks I was pain free and leading a normal life once again, just brilliant!

Not to put a downer on this stuff but my sister in law took it and it really badly stained her teeth after a few months.It did work on the IBS though. Best to enusre you brush and mouthwash after taking it to prevent this

Thanks for the advice Bel Bel! I haven't noticed this problem myself (or nobody's been brave enough to tell me!) but it may be because I've always taken my Aloe gel first thing and brush my teeth afterwards. But really glad it helped her IBS, great news!